[Milliways] OOM: The Kindred #5
She is allowed to see her people, to spend a night with them. Only about half remain, untainted by Michael’s experimentation. Halling is there, at least, but there is no sign of Jinto, and Teyla does not ask him about it. If Jinto has been changed, he will not want to dwell on it.
They have lost hope. That is the part that hurts Teyla the most. She tells them to believe, to trust that the Atlanteans will come, will find them, find her. But that hope has long gone cold, and nothing she says can change that.
***
She sees Kanaan once.
She tries to reason with him, to appeal to the part of him that is still Kanaan, the part she knows must still exist.
But he looks at her as though he does not recognize her. As though she is speaking a language he does not understand.
And just when she thinks she is beginning to get through to him, there’s a noise, and he is frightened away.
Her hope begins to fade as well.
***
The guards come for her, and Halling steps in front of her, willing to take her place. It warms her heart to see he still wishes to protect her, still sees her as his leader. But they will accept no substitutions, and as Halling is thrown against the wall, Teyla straightens her back, juts out her chin and follows the guards.
***
They take her to a room filled with the bodies of people Michael is experimenting on, each on in its own stasis chamber. Some are faces she knows, has known from childhood, some are strangers to her. All are in the process of becoming monsters.
They strap her to a tilted table in the middle of the room and leave her alone. She loses track of time.
Eventually, she hears someone enter the room.
“Michael?” she calls, turning her head, trying to see, but the person is behind the table. “Michael, is that you?”
But when the figure comes into her view, it is not Michael, and she sighs in relief. “Kanaan.”
He turns his head to look at her, and behind the cold, unrecognizing glance, there is something more. He knows her, somewhere inside. Knows her and cares for her, is concerned for her, wants to help her.
“Quickly,” she says quietly. “You must release me.”
He looks confused, conflicted, torn between his affection for her and whatever Michael has programmed into his mind.
“Michael will be here soon.”
He looks up, like a startled animal scenting a predator.
She struggles to keep her voice calm, to be reasonable. “He will do to me what he has done to you. Please.”
Kanaan turns back to her, and the recognition is stronger.
“I can help you escape,” she says, desperation tinting her words. “All of you.”
He looks at her, that coldness melting away, a spark of familiarity lighting his eyes.
“Teyla,” he says, his voice raspy, as though he has not used it in some time.
“Yes,” she says, on the verge of weeping with happiness at this small blessing. “It’s me.”
He seems to come out of his stupor, eyes darting over her form. He lays a hesitant hand on her belly, and for the briefest of moments, Teyla wants to recoil at his touch. But she sees in his eyes that he knows, he understands. This is his child. Their child. His son.
He takes a deep breath and starts to tug at the metal bonds around her wrists. When he cannot budge them, he looks around for a tool, coming back with a knife. He tries to pry them open.
“Yes,” Teyla murmurs. “That’s it.”
And then…he stops.
Tears stain her cheeks as she lifts her head. “Kanaan.” He looks frightened. “What is it?”
Moments later, Michael appears, and when he tells Kanaan to leave, Kanaan obeys without hesitation.
“Now,” Michael says, with that soft, cold smile. “Let’s get started.”
***
She tries to reason with him, as she had with Kanaan. She would not plead for her own life, but she will plead for the life of her child.
She begs him not to hurt her child.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
He scans her belly with his device, and she can hear her son’s heartbeat, see his form on the monitor. She has done this before, of course, with Jennifer. It was a miracle. A revelation. Here it is a mockery.
When she asks Michael what he wants with her child, he tells her the boy is unique. She and Kanaan both have the gift. Michael intends to use him to further his research.
He congratulates her on keeping the child healthy, even as he brings over a syringe, filled with a greenish liquid, attached to a long, thin needle. The ‘help’ he has so generously offered.
“Michael, what are you doing? Please.”
“I need this child. I can’t afford to let anything happen to him.”
She braces herself for the pain.
***
He is worried. She can feel it. The connection between them is quite strong while they are in the same room. Two guards join them, and Michael dances about between the consoles.
He shuts off the power to the stasis pods, and when she confronts him about it, he says they were expendable. There are more where they came from.
This is her moment. Her team have come to rescue her. She knows it.
As the guards lead her from the lab, she sends up a silent prayer to the Ancestors.
Perhaps, for once, they will hear and be moved to help.
***
Carson shows up.
Carson.
Carson who has been dead for months.
He says there is no time to explain. They must leave, and quickly.
And then Michael is there. He cuts her off at every turn. This Carson is one of his creations and will not harm him.
And as Michael drags her away, Carson’s limp form on the floor behind them, she feels her last hope slipping away.
[ooc: All dialogue from the Stargate: Atlantis episode "The Kindred".]